An example of shoe fetishism in Joseph Strick's film The Balcony (1963)

"The most common and the most significant of all the perversions -- the desire to inflict pain upon the sexual object, and its reverse -- received from Krafft-Ebbing the names of "Sadism" and "Masochism" for its active and passive forms respectively." --Sigmund Freud, "Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality," 1905

Definition

History of the term

The term was coined by Viennese psychotherapist Wilhelm Stekel (in his book Sexual Aberrations) in 1925, from the Greek para-
(beside) + philos (loving), and first used in English in Stekel's translated works. It was not in widespread use until
the 1950s, and was first used in the "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders" (DSM) in 1980. It was used by
Sigmund Freud, as well as by the sexologistJohn Money.
--http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paraphilia [Sept 2004]

Paraphilias are sometimes called sexual perversions or sexual deviations. What consitutes "perversion" or "deviation" varies from society to society. Some paraphilias have been (and are) crimes in some jurisdictions. Others are viewed as harmless eccentricities by many people.

Some paraphilias are defined as potential mental disorders in the DSM-IV. Professional treatment is usually indicated only when such conditions lead to involvement of non-consenting sexual partners, or are clearly damaging to the physical or mental well-being of the paraphiliac.

Although homosexuality was once considered to be a paraphilia, it is not usually regarded as such any longer. Similarly, consensual sadomasochism,exhibitionism, voyeurism and non-psychotic forms of fetishism, urolagnia and even coprophilia are increasingly becoming culturally acceptable forms of sexuality.

Observation of paraphiliac behavior has provided valuable scientific information on the mechanisms of sexual attraction and desire, such as behavioral imprinting.